1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a utility vehicle, in particular an agricultural tractor, with a vehicle chassis, which is formed at least partly from two laterally spaced side members with C-shaped profile, comprising a vertical bar and two horizontal flanges, and containing hydraulic lines in the space between the flanges, and with a radiator sub-assembly fitted to the vehicle chassis, which consists of a carrier plate fitted to the side members and several oil coolers supported by the carrier plate.
2. Description of Related Art
With a well-known vehicle of this type (own make) the side members are installed with flanges turned towards each other and form a base element for the engine and a radiator sub-assembly, arranged related to the driving direction in front of the engine, including several radiators for different coolants. The radiators usually comprise a water cooler for the engine, a transmission oil cooler, a hydraulic oil cooler, an intercooler and possibly a condenser for an air-conditioning system.
Because of the need for a good view from the driver's seat onto implements attached at the front of the vehicle on the one hand and the desire for better agility of the vehicle through tighter turning of the steering front wheels on the other hand, the region of the vehicle, in which the radiator sub-assembly is arranged, must be kept as narrow and low as possible. The radiator sub-assembly is therefore subject to substantial restrictions with respect to its dimensions particularly in width and height. Since the heat sink of the radiators cannot therefore be substantially increased, dissipation of the resultant waste heat is presenting more and more difficulties, particularly because of the trend to constantly increase the drive power of the vehicle. In order to obtain satisfactory heat dissipation however, the radiators are arranged on several levels one behind the other.
Such a radiator sub-assembly for agricultural tractors (own make), in which the radiators are fitted to a common carrier plate, is known. The carrier plate is fitted directly in front of the engine on an approximately horizontal level to the longitudinal frames in the front axle region of the vehicle. A transmission case via whose transmission a front power take-off shaft can be operated with a selectable rpm is housed between the longitudinal frames. So that the feed and outlet lines for the coolants at least of the front radiators can be routed underneath the carrier plate rearwards to the sub-assemblies to be cooled, the carrier plate is arranged at sufficient distance from the transmission case. There is also the disadvantage that the lines which lie within the profile of the side members are invisible from the outside of the vehicle and can only be accessed with difficulty thus substantially slowing assembly work in view of the cramped space conditions. In addition, the maximum size of the heat sink of the radiators is reduced by the higher lying carrier plate which needs to be spaced from the transmission case.
The object of the invention, in the case of an agricultural tractor of the type described at the beginning, is to improve the routing of the inlet and outlet lines of the front oil coolers with a view to improving assembly and simplifying subsequent maintenance.